We took leave of our friends on Syringa and SeaDog and made for Frenchboro, one of the islands farthest east of the coast of Maine. Technically F'boro is a group of islands but the only place there is any activity is Lunt Harbor. The population is 60. We estimate we met about 15% of the population in the first hour we were there. Had a fabulous lobster dinner - two 1-1/2 lobsters each with cole slaw and one blueberry pie – all for under $40 including tip. If there were more to see we would have stayed longer but there is so much more to see……..

Thursday, August 5th

Alas, we woke up in Lunt Harbor with great plans for the day but were shrouded in "pea soup" fog

. Until you are in it, you cannot quite appreciate the meaning. Visibility varied from 50 yards to 200 yards throughout the day. Yes, that is “yards.” Time to read, puzzle, and “maintain space” between us.

Friday, August 6th

Aha! The sun is shining and off we go, headed north to cruise up Somes Sound to the town of Somesville. The sound is a long, narrow but deep, graceful body of water with steep, towering granite cliffs – America’s version of a fjord. Not to be missed.

Saturday and Sunday, August 7th and 8th

Destination Northeast Harbor: Don’t make the mistake of accepting a mooring ball assignment in the outer harbor. Two rocky rolly nights reminiscent of Camden. Otherwise, the folks here are friendly and helpful (as all Mainiacs we have encountered). Advantages here are the LL Bean-subsidized free shuttle that will take you to almost any point of interest in the area. Since we had previously toured the national treasure of Acadia National Park, we went to Bah Hahbah (as in Bar Harbor) to walk around

. Found lobster scissors (yeah!) so we can return Sue and Kelsey’s and not have to lie that we lost them somewhere. Not to be missed here are the Asticou Terraces, Thuya Lodge and Gardens. It is a moderately challenging hike uphill about 1-2 mile but well worth it. The classic English Garden was in full bloom with intoxicating scents.

Monday, August 9th

We leave NE Harbor under overcast but promising skies. As we enter the narrow and winding Casco Passage, dense fog rolls in. Between us, we have four sharply focused eyes and ears on EVERYTHING and this is NOT FUN. Our first passage in very dense fog. Hopefully our last but probably not. Amazingly, as we exit the Casco Passage, the fog clears. We head NW into Eggemoggin Reach, with reknowned beauty, but unfortunately the fog has descended upon us again. We alter our plans and make way for the anchorage outside the Wooden Boat School, which publishes Wooden Boat magazine and obviously has a school where folks learn to build and sail wooden boat. Next we know, our friends on Syringa and SeaDog, are approaching and we enjoy cocktails and dinner together topped off by Carol’s excellent blueberry pie.

Tuesday, August 10th

We leave our friends again as they head SE thru “the Reach” and we head NW to Searsport. We have looked forward to our sail thru Eggemoggin Reach and indeed we were able to sail (with a little help from the iron spinnaker) over calm waters and favoring breezes. Searsport has a terrific little maritime museum with amazing exhibits for such a tiny museum. Had no idea how many captains’ wives took their families to sea! Role models for today’s “admirals.”

Comments

As I said before, I am envious and aam looking forward to my retirement someday so I can follow in your foot steps. Keep sending the notes, I love it!

Christy
on Aug 17, 2010 at 08:53PM

I love reading your posts. I sailed in Maine two years ago to many of these places (on a friend's boat that she keeps in Castine). Your descriptions are great. I would love to do that someday on Carolina Girl!